Readiness to Serve

As an analysis team for a financial institution their goal was to be immediately available at the first sign of an anomaly in the system. Like every other good analysis team in the city, their goal was to identify and find a means of exploiting the next new anomaly before anyone else in the world did. When the rest of the world catches up, their edge is lost – until the next time.

Many times I see organizations saving pennies on billions of dollars of revenue to ensure they keep their teams “busy” or “fully utilized”.

If your teams are always busy, how will they be able to cope with the next bump in the road?

If your teams are always busy, how will they be able to stop and see the big picture?

If your teams are always busy, when will they have enough time to stop and sharpen their tools?

If your teams are always busy, who is looking around to see what the rest of the world is doing?

If your teams are always busy, who will you have available to exploit the next change in the market before your competition?

Unless money really is that tight, staff up your teams or balance your investment portfolio not just to deliver your current needs but also provide sufficient capacity to be “ready to serve” when the next anomaly hits your market.